American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Jun 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialDoes the respiratory system limit exercise in mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?
It is not known if abnormal dynamic respiratory mechanics actually limit exercise in patients with mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We reasoned that failure to increase peak ventilation and Vt in response to dead space (DS) loading during exercise would indicate true ventilatory limitation to exercise in mild COPD. ⋯ These results show that the respiratory system reached or approached its physiologic limit in mild COPD at a lower peak work rate and ventilation than in healthy participants. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 00975403).